AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY MARCH 2016 AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 79
Get tidy!
Michael Fretwell writes: “On a recent Fiji
holiday I was trying to get an “other than
standard” sunset shot. I noticed this table set
for a romantic dinner and saw an opportunity.
I focused on the table setting and allowed the
background to go out of focus with the setting
sun behind the curtain drape. I think I have
nailed it, but no picture is “perfect”! What could
I have done to improve it?”
Well, I could see this in a travel or resort
brochure. The lighting and colour are nice
and the ref lections in the glasses are effective.
Where this could be improved is mainly in
composition: the cutlery and crockery are just
a little messy looking. It could well do with
the skills of a professional stylist for table ware
placement and also getting rid of wrinkles in
the table cloth. Noise in the table cloth is a
good indication of underexposure and if you
could have added some light, say from a lamp
or similar, it would have been better exposed.
You could try the noise reduction filter in your
processing software to reduce it. You could also
set the noise reduction feature in-camera while
shooting though it does smooth out some of the
detail.
SAIMA’S TIP: Undesirable noise – often
appearing as speckly sort of grain – is a frequent
issue with low light shooting and underexposure.
TITLE: Romantic dinner for two
PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Fretwell
DETAILS: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 24-70mm
lens @ 54mm, 1/160s @ f11, ISO 160, handheld.
DXO Optics Pro 10.
Beyond pretty colours
Stevie Hendry found this lookout on the
Yarra Valley side of the Dandenong Ranges
and returned several mornings at 530am
to see the scene in different conditions. I
applaud your dedication in returning to the
lookout until you got the situation you felt
happy with. It’s the sort of thing a serious
photographer does and I think that you
have successfully captured the vastness of
the sky. This is the sort of shot that would
have been used in the past to illustrate a
magazine story. With all that empty space,
it makes a good background for a graphic
designer to place text that is readable.
However, the lack of any great subject in
all that emptiness is its limitation, and
does not make it a memorable image
unfortunately. The colour is nice, but well,
it’s just mainly space. It is hard to make
space into a subject.
SAIMA’S TIP: Content or a subject is
what differentiates images and makes
photos resonate with a viewer.
TITLE: Biggest Sky
PHOTOGRAPHER: Stevie Hendry
DETAILS: Canon EOS 5D, 11-16mm
lens @16mm, 10s @ f2.8, ISO 400.
Photoshop for cropping and levels.
